Traffic, noises prompt concern

Tuesday

A standing room-only crowd packed McBean Community Center on Monday to oppose building a drag strip off of Hephzibah-McBean Road.

Residents expressed concern about the noise and traffic a raceway would bring to the two-lane road. The property is located between a new Richmond County fire station and a McBean elementary school.

Augusta Commissioner Jimmy Smith, who represents the district, said that the school board has opposed building the raceway in that area.

The crowd quizzed Mr. Smith and Commissioner Don Grantham about the likelihood of the dragstrip being built. Local produce owner Leo Charette has a contract on 235 acres in the area and is promoting building the facility there.

"We just decided it wasn't going to open and decided we were going to fight it tooth and toenail," Mr. Smith said.

The drag strip is being promoted by Commissioners Marion Williams and Andy Cheek to boost economic development in the county. Mr. Williams said a study by the International Hot Rod Association said the track would generate $30 million a year, and the city would get $2 out of every ticket sold.

Plans to build a drag strip on property at the Augusta Corporate Park off Mike Padgett Highway were shut down last year when the Richmond County Development Authority voted unanimously in December not to split off 250 acres from the corporate park, opting to continue efforts to land a major industrial project there.